Russia began the development of the coronavirus vaccine in February, said Denis Logunov, deputy head of the Gamalei National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
According to Denis Logunov, researchers began developing the vaccine after the conference of the World Health Organization when it became clear that the coronavirus poses a new challenge for the entire world population, Meduza daily writes.
The expert said that he led the center’s group of researchers engaged in the vaccine development. The clinical trials of the vaccine began on June 17. As of now, the second stage of trials has almost completed, with the next step being the registration of the vaccine.
The vaccine was created in just two weeks but the researchers used the MERS vaccine that has been developed for the past three years.
The doctor also added that he does not know whether the vaccination will be mandatory. He believes that it would not be right to force people and that they should decide for themselves. The Healthcare Ministry will probably identify risk groups and recommend that they are vaccinated.